Calendar and other essential info: http://www.blackturtle.us/TTA/Very few people attended this meeting. Just two students, four board members, and several employees were all that were present. Here are the highlights:

1) Classroom Surveillance Cameras - The teachers' union and the district are negotiating an MOU regarding the use of security cameras in classrooms of teachers requesting them. So far only a few teachers at the high school have requested cameras in their classrooms. The MOU will spell out the ground rules for how the cameras are to be used, etc.2) Facilities - Lots of upgrades to facilities are being implemented during the Summer Break. Upgrades include new flooring, painting, new asphalt, and tech installation. Most upgrades will be complete before the first week of school. However, some projects may not be completed until after school has started.3) Bell Systems - Both schools will receive a new bell system which will be easier to program and which will include an intercom system. The current high school system is quite antiquated. The elementary system is not as bad.4) Get Focused, Stay Focused - The superintendent and the HS principal talked about a new motivational program focused on getting students to think about their future careers and what they'll have to do in order to attain their career and life-style goals.5) Two coaches and a teacher were approved by the school board.6) HS Dress Code - The board discussed the high school dress code. There had been student complaints at the May meeting regarding the dress code and it's implementation. The board asked for consistency, but didn't object to any specific item included on the dress code. It was agreed that students should be encouraged to dress in a manner appropriate for work, but it was also conceded that the school can't demand adherence to such a high standard. However, minimal standards can be enforced.7) Swimming Pool - General attendance has been low and so hours have been adjusted. Swimming lessons have been quite successful with many young students (under eight mostly) doing quite well in learning basic strokes and water safety.NEXT MEETING: August 10, 2017

Betsy DeVos rethinks Obama-era guidelines for campus sex assaultThis whole "guilty until proven innocent" mentality is the fault of Obama and other liberal snowflakes who always believe an accuser even to the point that they never use the word accuser. Instead, to them an accuser is automatically a victim since to doubt the veracity of the claims made by a victim/accuser is to further victimize them. They've enabled and emboldened false accusers to the point that most accusations are false accusations. Drunken sex followed by a break up and then a false accusation of rape days, weeks, or months later has become the new norm for campus relations between young men and women. It's a dangerous situation for a guy to be in and I'm glad to see DeVos rethinking the legacy of the politically correct social justice whiner snowflakes!

MojaveMike: It looks like DeVos isn't all bad afterall. People were nervous about what she might do to public education, but it looks like she's starting at the top and cleaning house there before she does whatever it is she's going to do with public schools at the high school and elementary level.

More high school students get A's while SAT scores dropIt's known as grade inflation and this has always been a problem in one way or the other. It's one reason why occasional standardized testing is a good thing, but it doesn't excuse the excessive use of standardized testing which is the current state of affairs.

Teachers join protest against US Secretary DeVos' meeting in DenverVouchers only exacerbate the divide between the haves and the have-nots. Choice at the expense of fairness and opportunity is not a real choice.

Minn. schools adopt 'transgender toolkit' for kindergartnersTransgender kindergartners? There's something seriously wrong with parents who put a kid through a headtrip like that! Only one in a million kids would come up with something like that on their own and even then it would be the result of something they overheard on television or on the internet. Just let kids be kids. Boys are boys and girls are girls and the school doesn't need to get into the personal lives of kids at all and especially they don't need to promote transgenderism.